Reverb settings to "fatten" things up a bit

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randyfromde

New member
Could someone suggest some settings for me to try and make a track a little more "full" without a real audible reverb-y sound? Sometimes I record a vocal part which I don't want to double, or an acoustic guitar line that I'd like to be a little more full.

Thanks!
 
When I think of "fattening" a track, reverb isn't the tool I think of. I think more of strategic EQ or a bit of chorus. To me reverb is for adding "space".

You could try a dark small room verb with a short predelay and decay.
 
Oh okay. Yeah, it doesn't have to be reverb, that's just what I thought would do it.

Basically, I'm trying to get a fatter sound without double tracking or having it sound like there is an echo.
 
Compression is also a useful tool for "fattening". It depends on your definition of fat. The key is to add just enough to fatten without making mud.
 
randyfromde said:
Could someone suggest some settings for me to try and make a track a little more "full" without a real audible reverb-y sound? Sometimes I record a vocal part which I don't want to double, or an acoustic guitar line that I'd like to be a little more full.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Try a small room reverb type - 30-40%.
Then set the mix (wet/dry) level between 5-20%.
Set the pre-delay as much as possible. (vocals)
Increase send level on mixer or plug in so that vocal sounds more
present and bigger.
I.e.:
You want a big room sound, with a low mix level and as longs as a reverb tail as possible as long as it isn't audible. Send it to your mixer at full level with little pre-delay...and
that should work. If your plug in or effects unit has damping, increase the amount of damping everytime the reverb amount is increased to keep the reverb from "drowning" the sound out. Ambience is achieved perfectly is this is done right.
 
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A short .5 second small room reverb on a guitar solo or lead track can really make it stand out in a mix. The same goes for snare too.

Beez
 
Many times using reverb to make something more "full" will actually make it "muddy." To me, what makes a track sound "full" is a good strong clean signal going from a well-tuned, fine sounding instrument into a decent recorder with the input at the optimal level. A small amount of reverb can sometimes nicely place a track like that.
 
The key to using reverb to fatten a track is:

1 - Keep the decay time to between .2-.5 sec.

2 - You MUST have control over the early reflection level and spread!!! Too high and too short of early reflections will cause phase cancellation to the original source sound that will make the verb sound like doo doo.

3 - Pay VERY close attention to the pre-delay.

Short reverb really WILL fatten a track, and it does it in ways no eq/compression/delay line can. It sounds far more natural than dynamic processors!

Ed
 
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